The Arts Council of Lincoln County is once again sponsoring its annual Amateur Photography Competition. Entries will be accepted 1pm to 4pm Dec. 30, 2008, and Jan. 2, 2009, at the Lincoln Cultural Center, 403 E. Main Street in Lincolnton, NC. Tindalls' Professional Photography is the sponsor of this event. All entrants must be 18 years or older and must engage in photography for pleasure rather than financial benefit or professional reasons. Entrants must not hold a photographer's license or make their living at photography. Photo entries should be original photographs that have not been reproduced for public sale and have not been exhibited in any Arts Council of Lincoln County's events in the past. For a $20 entry fee, participants may enter up to 3 photographs. The categories for photographs are: Plant Life/ Landscapes, People/ Animal Life, Abstract/ Special Effects, Miscellaneous, and Black-and-White. Photographs may be in color or black-and-white. All entries must be framed and ready to hang. No saw tooth hangers allowed. All work must remain on exhibit until the end of the show. Judging will focus on mood, impact, composition, and quality. The awards are: $125 for best of show, $25 for first place, $15 for second place and $10 for third place. There will be first, second and third for each category. The Amateur Photography Competition will be on display from Jan. 9 through Feb. 1, 2009, at the Lincoln Cultural Center. For more from information, contact the Arts Council of Lincoln County at 704/732-9044. This project is supported in part by a grant provided through the Grassroots Arts Program of the NC Arts Council, a state agency.

A call for entry has been issued to all artists for the "18th Annual Juried Art Exhibit" of the Blue Ridge Arts Center (BRAC), in Seneca, SC, which will feature Joe Norman, Professor of Art with the Lamar Dodd School of Art with the University of Georgia in Athens, as juror. Norman, who has served as the Chairman of Drawing and Painting since 2004, will judge entries by artists who wish to present one or two original works of art created within the last two years and not previously shown at BRAC. These works may be in any medium and can be delivered to BRAC on Jan. 9, 2009, between 1-5pm as well as on Jan. 10, between 10am-2pm. The juror will view and judge the works on Jan. 11, 2009. Norman, who holds degrees from the University of Arkansas, the University of Illinois and the University of Cincinnati, has taught in virtually all media. He's particularly known for his work in acrylic, watercolor, charcoal and lithography. BRAC will notify artists by mail of Norman's selections. Pieces that are not juried into the BRAC exhibit will be on display at the Seneca Women's Club as part of the Salon Exhibit. For more information, visit (www.blueridgeartscenter.com). All exhibits are funded in part by the City of Seneca, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Seneca Hospitality and Accommodations Tax, Oconee County Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Oconee County ATAX, Oconee County Arts and Historical Commission, Oconee County Tourism, and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support through the National Endowment for the Arts.

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